A former TD Bank financial adviser is suing the bank over allegations of discrimination and retaliation, court documents show.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Keron McNeil alleges that while employed by TD between June and December 2023, he was subject to racist comments from a relationship manager in the presence of others and hostility from James Scully, a wealth market leader at the bank.
After filing a complaint with human resources in October 2023, McNeil alleges Scully “made work difficult” for him despite McNeil “bringing in new clients and consistently performing at a high level.”
For instance, McNeil was required to call his supervisor, Darren Stevenson, when he arrived to and departed from the office each day; and was required to send daily emails to Scully about his daily plan and accomplishments.
McNeil alleges he was the only financial adviser required to do this.
The issues culminated in McNeil’s termination via Zoom on Dec. 15, in which Scully and Stevenson “falsely alleged that a branch manager had seen Mr. McNeil sleeping on the job two months prior.” Though McNeil denied that he ever slept on the job, he was terminated.
TD could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit.
McNeil alleges he has suffered emotional pain and suffering, loss of personal dignity and substantial losses in past and future earnings from the termination.
He seeks pay and damages for all employee benefits, as well as punitive damages and reasonable attorneys’ fees.
McNeil’s lawsuit comes at a challenging time for TD, which was hit last month with more than $3 billion in fines and a cap on its U.S. retail assets over issues with the bank’s anti-money laundering program.
The bank is facing an investor lawsuit tied to the AML issues.
The proposed class action, filed by James Tiessen in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges TD executives made “overwhelmingly positive statements to investors” about the bank’s ability to address AML issues, while at the same time misleading them by, in part, not indicating that an asset cap – or any measure that would undermine the bank’s growth for the foreseeable future – was in the cards.
